April 23, 2008

Taylor Peyton Hits Grand Slam to Lift BC Softball over Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. - Sophomore Taylor Peyton tallied her second homerun of the season in style, hitting a grand slam in the fifth inning to help lift the Boston College softball team (25-26, 3-12 ACC) over Dartmouth (11-23, 7-9 Ivy) by a score of 7-3 at Sachem Field Wednesday afternoon.

Peyton drove in five RBIs on two hits overall, giving her 23 RBIs this season. As a team, the Eagles had eight hits on the day from five different players. Recording multiple hit games were sophomores Dani Weir and Amy Tunstall, who collected two hits each. Weir now has 31 hits on the season while Tunstall has 37.

Dartmouth took the initial lead, scoring one run on two hits in the bottom of the fourth inning. Freshman pitcher Allison Gage got her 40th appearance of the season for the Eagles and her 26th start. In six complete innings of work, she faced 25 batters, giving up three runs on four hits while striking out four.

Whitney Haller Breaks Home Run Record As Georgia Tech Sweeps Georgia State 9-1 And 4-1

ATLANTA - Junior Whitney Haller hit her 47th career home run breaking Tara Knudsen's school record as the Georgia Tech Softball Team (27-28) swept a doubleheader from Georgia State (31-16) 9-1 in five innings and 4-1 Wednesday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets hit six home runs on the day led by senior Brittany Barnes who had two and now has a team-high 11 on the season. Haller, senior Savannah Brown and freshmen Jessica Weaver and Amanda Crow also accounted for the long balls. The home run for Crow was the first of her career. Brown was 3-for-3 with three RBI to lead the offense in game one, while Barnes was 2-for-3 with two runs scored in game two.

Senior Whitney Humphreys won for the eighth time in her last nine starts as she pitched a two-hitter in game one. Game two saw junior Tiffany Johnson start for the first time since early March as she returned from injury and toss a five-hitter with three strikeouts. Tech out-hit the Panthers 15-7 on the day as the two teams played the two games in less than three hours.

Spaulding Fuels Tar Heel Sweep Of Winthrop

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Danielle Spaulding picked up a save in game one before earning her 14th win of the year in game two as the No. 14 Tar Heels took the road doubleheader 4-3 and 2-0 on Wednesday in Rock Hill, S.C. Spaulding also connected on her 10th home run of the year in game two as Carolina picked up its 10th straight victory and 14th win in the last 15 games. The Tar Heels (47-8-1) will travel to Blacksburg, Va. this weekend for a top 25 showdown with Virginia Tech for the ACC regular season title.

The Tar Heels fell behind early in game one as Winthrop pushed across a single run in the bottom of the first after the Tar Heels were set down in order in the first. Emily Troup led off the second by drawing a base on balls before Jennifer Jacobs connected on her 10th home run of the year and put Carolina ahead 2-1.

Terps' Softball Crushes George Washington, 3-0 and 17-1

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Senior Jenny Belak singled twice to tie the all-time hits record at Maryland and Sarde Stewart hit two, two-run home runs to propel the University of Maryland softball team over George Washington, 17-1 in five innings, in the second game of a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon. It was the highest run total for a Maryland team since March 15, 1998 when the Terps defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore, 18-0. In the first game, Maryland used three RBI singles to defeat GW, 3-0. Maryland improved to 34-15 on the season, while GW dropped to 8-25.

Belak singled to lead off the second game and bunt singled in the third to tie Kelly Shipman's nine-year record of 212 hits. She stole three bases to extend her career record to 55. In addition, she holds the career records for triples with 12 and at-bats with 723.

Stewart's two-run home run in the first highlighted a six-run inning where the Terps led off with six consecutive hits against Colonial starter Katie Miller (0-2). Stewart came up in the third and crushed her team-leading ninth home run of the season to give her 42 RBI on the season, the third most in a single season in school history.

NC State Takes Nightcap From Coastal Carolina, 7-2

RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State completed a doubleheader sweep of Coastal Carolina with a 7-2 decision in the nightcap at the Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Softball Stadium on Wednesday, April 23. Claudia Cooper and Mackenzie Mangum both drove in two runs while Alyssa Allbritten had two hits.

The win moves the Pack to 29-23 on the year, while the Chanticleers fall to 18-35.

State is now just one win shy of picking up its 30th of the year, something it has obtained in each of its previous four seasons in existence.

Mendy McKenzie (12-8) got the win with eight K's, while Michelle Evans (3-10) took the loss.

Wolfpack Clubs Coastal Carolina in Six, 9-0

RALEIGH, N.C. - Claudia Cooper crushed two doubles and Shanna Smith and Kristine Bechtholdt both went yard as NC State put away Coastal Carolina in six innings, 9-0, in the first of two games at the Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Softball Stadium on Wednesday, April 23. The win moves the Wolfpack to 28-23 on the year, while the Chanticleers fall to 18-34.

Lindsay Campana (17-15) got the decision, limiting Coastal to just two hits while fanning 11. Ashley Pedersen (7-11) got the loss in 3.1 innings of work, allowing eight hits and four earned runs. Michelle Evans gave up two earned runs in 2.1 frames of relief.

The Pack busted out of the gates early, putting up four runs with three hits and two costly Chanticleer errors in the bottom of the first. Smith got her final day at Dail Stadium under way in stellar fashion, belting a solo shot to left-center to start things off.

Towson Takes Two From Virginia Softball

TOWSON, Md. - The Virginia softball team (14-35) lost to Towson (30-20) 2-0 and 5-2 Wednesday as the Tigers took a doubleheader played at Towson Center Field.

In game one, the Cavaliers were outhit 8-3. First-year Cynthia Javaras, who got the starting nod in left field, belted two singles while classmate Lauren McCaskey also had a single.

Towson scored both its runs in the bottom of the second. With one out, Stephanie Fudurich singled to right center and moved to second after a wild pitch. Emily Gould would walk to put runners on first and second. A groundout to UVa second baseman Kierstie Cameron put two away but advanced the runners to second and third. The next batter, Meaghan Clark, belted a single to right center to score two.